Who Sir? Me Sir?
Stage 3 (Green)

1

How it all began

It was Sylvester, a teacher at Hawkwood School, who started the trouble. Just along the road from
Hawkwood there was another school called Greycoats. Parents paid a lot of money to send their
children to Greycoats, and the children there were clean and tidy, wore expensive clothes, and did well
in examinations.
At Hawkwood the parents did not pay any money and the children were much better at fighting than
at passing examinations. They were happy about that. Passing examinations meant hard work, and who
wanted to study every evening?
But Sam Sylvester was worried about the difference between the two schools. He wanted Hawkwood
to be as good as Greycoats, and he was always telling his class to work harder, to try and make a better
life for themselves.
'That's the trouble with you lot,' he said to his class one day. 'You don't care about anything.'
'What to you want us to care about, sir?' asked Hoomey. He was a thin, serious child, who was too small
for his age. His real name was Rossiter, but when someone spoke to him, he always said, 'Who? Me?,
so everyone called him 'Hoomey'.
'I want you to have ambition,' said Sam. 'To do things. To want things.'
'What kind of things, sir?' said Nutty. Her real name was Deirdre McTavish, but everybody called her
'Nutty'. She was thirteen, had a broken nose, thick glasses, black hair and a big smile. But you had to
be careful with her. She was a good fighter too.
'Anything,' said Sam. 'Anything at all. Now come on, tell me what you want in life.'
Nutty put up her hand. 'I want to be a rider in the Olympic Games before I'm twenty-one,' she said.
Nutty loved horses and riding and had her own horse, called Midnight - a present from her Uncle Bean.
Midnight had been on his way to the knackers, where horses were turned into dog food. But her uncle,
who worked there, had bought Midnight and given him to Nutty. She had cared for the horse, taught
him to jump, and now she and Midnight often won competitions.
Hoomey put up his hand too.
'Yes, Rossiter?'
'I want to go and watch Northend United play football on Saturday, sir.'
'And that's your life's ambition?' said Sam crossly. 'Well, why don't you? It isn't very difficult.'
'It's too far. And my bicycle's broken.'
'You can catch a bus, can't you?'
'It's a long walk from my house to the bus-stop, sir.'
Sam covered his face with his hands, and the class laughed. 'All right, Rossiter,' Sam said. I'll take you
in my car. You and three friends.'
'Oh, thank you, sir!' said Hoomey.

And that was how it all started, because on the way home from the football match on Saturday, Sam
stopped the car at a pub. 'I'm going in here for a drink,' he said. 'I'll bring you out some cokes if you
want.'
'Yes please, sir.'
The three friends with Hoomey were Nutty, Nutty's cousin David Bean and a Sikh boy called Jazz.
Hoomey hadn't invited Nutty. She just said, 'I'm your friend. I'm coming. 'Nobody argued with Nutty.
The Greycoats School bus was also in the pub car park. Inside it there were four boys, drinking cokes.
'Well, that's nice,' said Sam. 'Now you can all have an intelligent conversation together.'
'We don't want to talk to them, sir,' Bean said.
Nutty was looking hard at the Greycoats bus. 'That boy with the fair hair and the big nose,' she said.
'He's Sebastian Smith. He's Gloria's boyfriend.' Gloria was Nutty's older sister, a gentle, beautiful girl,
who always had lots of boyfriends.
Nutty pushed her face against the car window, then opened it. 'Hi, Seb!' she cried. 'It's me!'
Sebastian looked at her coldly, then opened the bus window and said, 'Get lost!'
'Have you been to the match too?' asked Nutty.
'No. We've been competing in a tetrathlon. That's a Greek word, so you won't understand it.'
'What is it? A special game for little boys?'
'It's a very difficult competition in running, swimming, shooting, and cross-country riding.'
'Where did you come? Last?'
'First out of twenty teams.' Sebastian closed the window.
'I could do all that,' Nutty said. 'Hey, Seb!'
He opened the window again.
'Do they have girls in the competition?'
'No. They're not strong enough.' He smiled unkindly, and shut the window again.
'I hate that Sebastian,' Nutty said to the others.
They waited, not very patiently, for Sam, and after a while Bean went to find him. He came back
shaking his head. 'He's talking to that Greycoats teacher. Arguing about something.'
A few minutes later the two teachers came out, walked over to Sam's car and looked hard at Nutty and
her friends.
'What, these four?' cried the Greycoats teacher. 'You'll never make a team out of them. One of them's
a girl too. You can't use her. You'll need another boy.'
'No problem,' said Sam. 'And we'll beat you. The two men shook hands, and Sam got into his car.
'What's all that about,' sir?' asked Hoomey.
'I'll tell you on Monday,' said Sam.

On Monday morning Sam's class listened with open mouths as Sam told them his news.
'Now listen carefully, because this is very important. I want to show everybody that Hawkwood School
is just as good as Greycoats School. Some people think that my plan is impossible, but I know we can
do it. We're going to enter a tetrathlon team against the Greycoats School team, and I've promised that
we'll beat them. The competition is next summer, so we've got almost a year to get ready. It just needs
hard work. And the four people in the team--'
'I know, sir,' Nutty broke in excitedly. 'It's because you met the Greycoats teacher on Saturday, so it's
the four of us who were in your car, isn't it? Except me, because I'm a girl. But can't I be captain, sir?
Olympic teams have captains.'
'Well, all right, Deirdre,' said Sam, pleased. 'We'll need your help with the riding. So the team will be
Rossiter, Bean, and Jazz - and the fourth boy will be Gary Nicholson. He's a good swimmer already.'
Hoomey suddenly sat up when he heard his name. His eyes were round with horror. 'Who, sir? Me, Sir?'
he said, in a frightened voice. 'But I can't swim, or ride, or shoot! I can't do any of those things!'
'You can learn,' said Sam. 'You'll have to.'
Hoomey, Jazz, Bean, and Gary looked at each other unhappily. 'Why us?' said Bean. 'It's not fair! We'll
never beat Greycoats. Never in a million years!'
But everybody in the school was excited by the tetrathlon plan. Yes, Hawkwood would show that rich
Greycoats crowd! Hawkwood for gold!
The other teachers thought Sam was crazy, but they agreed to help. The head teacher worried about
money for all the sports lessons, but Sam said that the parents liked the idea very much. They would
help to pay for everything and Mr Bean would find them some horses.
In fact, everybody was happy - except Hoomey, Jazz, Bean, and Gary.



2

The horses arrive

Soon everybody was busy. The parents put some money together and Mr Bean started to look for
suitable horses at the knackers. Swimming lessons were planned, and later on there would be shooting
lessons.
Hoomey couldn't believe that this awful thing was really going to happen. 'Well, when we learn to
shoot,' he said miserably to Bean, 'we can shoot ourselves.'
'No, we can't,' said Bean. 'Those guns are too small. They wouldn't kill a cat.'
Nutty, as the team captain, told the boys that they were lazy and just afraid of hard work.
'You can do it if you try,' she told them.
She went with the boys to the first swimming lesson. It was not a great success. Gary could swim well,
and Jazz showed promise, but the swimming teacher shook his head. 'This is going to need a lot of
work,' he said to Nutty. 'Three nights a week for the next year, and I really don't have time to do it.'
'But you've got to!' cried Nutty. 'Someone must.'
Gary's older brother, Nails, was swimming at the other end of the pool. He could swim like a fish and
he and Gary were at the pool every night. But nobody liked Nails. He was hard and dangerous and was
always in trouble with the police. The others were afraid of him, the teachers hated him and he had no
real friends. Nails and Gary had no mother. She had left home, and they lived with their father, who did
not care what they did. But Gary was nicer than Nails and he laughed and smiled sometimes. Nails only
laughed if someone had an accident or got hurt.
Nutty was watching Nails. He could swim really fast! Perhaps he could help them? But how could you
get someone like Nails to help?
Hoomey hadn't been in the water yet, and the swimming teacher shouted, 'Get in, young Rossiter!'
As Hoomey slid into the water, he thought that his last hour had come. He felt the water close over him
like death, and he opened his mouth to scream. Suddenly Nails appeared. He caught Hoomey by the
chin and pulled his head up out of the water. 'You stupid fool!' Nails shouted. 'Use your arms!' Then
he swam away. Nutty stared after him thoughtfully.

That evening Mr Bean's horses arrived. The plan was to keep them in an old, unused factory on the edge
of the town. All the buildings around the factory had been destroyed and grass was growing where there
were once houses. So, after tea, Nutty went down there on Midnight. When she arrived, Sam Sylvester
and the boys were already there, with some of the parents.
They stood in silence as the truck with the horses in it moved slowly down the road and stopped beside
them. Mr Bean got down from the driver's seat, smiling happily. 'Here we are, then,' he said. 'They didn't
look much, but they were good horses once. Three of them were racehorses and the other was in a
circus. He'll be all right if they don't play "God Save the Queen". He lies down when they do that!' Mr
Bean laughed. 'Well, let's have a look at them, then. But don't get too excited,' he added. 'Just give them
three months with good food and you won't know them.'
The parents went to open the back of the truck and Hoomey stood there, trying to pretend that he did
not really care. But why were his legs shaking like that? Perhaps he was really ill. Perhaps he should
go to the doctor and . . .
'Mind your backs! Mind your backs!'
A very large horse was pulling Mr Bean down from the truck. It slid onto the road, looked for the
nearest bit of grass and went straight towards it, pulling Mr Bean after it. Hoomey happened to be
standing on that bit of grass, thinking he was safe. He saw the horse's big hungry mouth coming towards
his ankles and he jumped back. Then he stood there, unable to speak, as Mr Bean pushed the horse's
rope into his hand.
'He likes you. He's chosen you really, hasn't he? Here, he's yours,' Mr Bean said to Hoomey.
The horse was hungrily eating every plant and every bit of grass that it could find. It was brown, and
Hoomey could see all its bones. Its legs were covered with old cuts, and there were some new ones too
that were still bleeding. Its eyes were red. Hoomey stood there, holding the rope. He was too frightened
to move. But the horse wanted to move on to some new grass. It lifted a foot as big as a dinner plate and
put it down near Hoomey's shoe. Hoomey jumped.
'It could break your foot like that. It's dangerous. I don't want it,' cried Hoomey, frightened.
'Well, you've got it, haven't you?' said Jazz. 'I hope mine's prettier.'
'Yours is the circus horse,' laughed Mr Bean.
Jazz watched miserably as Mr Bean brought out an extraordinary white horse covered in black spots.
It wasn't as big as Hoomey's, but it was as thin. It stood there, looking very sorry for itself, and refusing
to move.
'You don't see one like that every day,' said Mr Bean. 'You'll have to call him Spot,' he laughed.
Nutty sat on her beautiful Midnight, who was very different from these poor sad horses. 'It's what you
make of them,' she said, trying to cheer the others up. 'Midnight looked awful when we bought him.
You've got to remember that they've come straight from . . .' But she stopped there. They wouldn't want
to remember that the horses had come from the knackers.
Gary and Bean were beginning to worry now. Their eyes were fixed on the truck. Mr Bean looked a bit
worried too.
'This one could give us a bit of trouble,' he said. 'It's frightened. Needs a bit of love.'
There was a lot of crashing and banging from inside the truck - then a shout and a lot of bad language.
A horse shot out and hit the road. It slid round, looked around it with eyes dark with fear, and stood
there, shaking. It looked a better horse than the others, but also more dangerous. Gary and Bean stepped
back.
'Gary, it's the best of them all,' said Nutty, getting down from Midnight. 'Take it. It's only frightened
because of the journey.'
She spoke softly to the horse. But Gary was as frightened as the horse. His face was white. Hoomey,
watching, felt a bit happier. At least his horse was only large and hungry. He decided to give him the
name of Bones.
But Nutty was pleased. This one looked like a good cross-country horse. 'You're lucky,' she said to
Gary.
'But I want to live,' he replied.
The last horse was Bean's. It had come half-way down from the truck, and it stood there watching them
with friendly, sleepy eyes. It refused to move any further, and its front feet were planted hard on the
ground. It was a very big, thin, tired brown horse.
Just then Nutty saw her sister Gloria and two boys - Seb and his friend - watching from the road, and
laughing at the horses.
'If you've come to spy, you can go away again!' Nutty shouted at them angrily. 'And don't laugh at the
horses - they may not look much now, but they were all famous once.'
Hoomey wondered it this was true. Was his old Bones really a famous racehorse?
The parents were busy getting the factory ready and Hoomey began to realize that horses made work.
Oh, well, the parents were probably going to do it all.
When everything was ready, the parents stood and watched as the horses were taken into their new
home. There were a lot of old fridges in one corner of the factory, and the parents had pushed these
together to make walls. Each horse now had its own little stable, filled with deep straw.
Bean's horse had been given the name Whizzo, because he moved so slowly. But he managed to move
a lot faster when he realized there was food waiting for him in his new stable. And when the horses
were comfortable and had eaten, a feeling of quiet happiness filled the old factory. Pleased, the parents
left. Mr Bean started up the truck, shouted goodnight and drove away. The four boys were alone with
Nutty.
'Right. That's it for tonight,' said Nutty. 'Tomorrow you'll have to give the horses their food and clean
them out.'
The boys looked at her in surprise. 'Us?'
'Yes. I'll meet you here at seven o'clock.'
'Seven?'
'I get up at six for Midnight, and I'm only a girl. So be here at seven. Or there'll be trouble.'
And she got back on Midnight and rode off.



3

The end of the competition?

That night Nails and Gary decided to go and look at Gary's horse. It was after midnight and it was cold.
A thick, gold moon was coming up over the sea and everything was silent. Gary pushed back the big
doors and moonlight filled the factory. The horses were quiet. Three of them were lying down, but
Gary's mare was on her feet, walking about, and Gary and Nails stood and watched her. 'She's pretty,'
Nails said after a time. 'What are you going to call her?'
'I don't know.'
'Well, you'll have to think of something.'
'Come on,' said Gary. 'It's after midnight and I've got to be back here at seven.'
'You're crazy,' said Nails.

But a few nights later, Nails went back to the factory. It wasn't comfortable at home now his mother had
left. There were no meals, no warm fires to sit by, nothing. So, late one evening, he decided to go and
have another look at Gary's mare.
When he closed the factory doors behind him, he was filled with a feeling of peace. He listened to the
gentle sound of the horses eating. Gary's mare stopped when she heard Nails, and her ears went back.
'What's the matter, beautiful?' Nails said. 'Don't be afraid. You're all right, you know. You're not on your
way to the knackers now.'
He sat down quietly beside her. Her life was a little like his, he thought. And while he sat there, the
mare seemed to grow calmer. She pushed her head forward to look at him, but when he moved, she
jumped back, afraid. Then, slowly, she put her face near his again, and he felt a wet tongue on his hand.
Nails was pleased. 'You like me, don't you?' he said, and he could see that she did. Well, she was lucky.
They were going to kill her, but now here she was - warm and comfortable. They should call her Lucky.
Lucky Something. He lay back comfortably while he thought about it. The other horses moved about
quietly, and it was like being in a family, by the fireside. What about Lucky Fireside . . . no, Firelight?
Lucky Firelight? Lucky Lady Firelight. That was it! It was a good name! He wished he could ride her
- well, perhaps he could. He could learn to ride, couldn't he? But the others mustn't know.
The next morning, Hoomey went up the factory early to feed old Bones - and he found Nails asleep next
to the brown mare. 'I'll kill you if you tell anyone!' Nails said. Hoomey didn't tell, but he thought it was
very strange, and Nutty was very interested to find that when they went to the riding school for their
first lesson, Nails, unsmiling and silent, went along with them.
The horses at the riding school looked strong and healthy, with shining coats. They were also smaller
and much easier to manage than their horses at the factory. Hoomey didn't have to worry about watching
out for Bones's big feet and his every-hungry mouth. But he wanted to be able to ride Bones, and he
enjoyed his first lesson very much. Nutty just stood by the wall with Nails and Mr Sylvester, and
watched. She could see Hoomey was not a natural rider, and she realized how hard it was going to be.
They had several months before the competition, but their own horses were old and tired, and her team
was awful!
After the lesson, Nails walked with Nutty to her bus stop. 'I want to ask you something,' he said. 'Well
you teach me how to ride?' He spoke almost angrily. 'I'll pay you,' he added, 'but I want it to be a secret.
Don't tell the others . . . or I'll kill you!'
Nutty was silent with surprise, but she agreed and a week later they met for their first lesson. Nails was
angry most of the time because he hated taking orders from anyone. But he learnt quickly, and Nutty
agreed to continue with the lessons.
Two weeks later, one afternoon after school, the teacher from the riding school came to look at the
knackers horses. The horses were taken out and the boys walked them up and down while the teacher
watched.
'You must be crazy!' she cried to Sam Sylvester. 'You can't use these horses. You'll have to use mine,
and, with the lessons, that'll cost you fifty pounds a week, from now until the summer!'
Nothing happened for almost a week after that, but then Sam called the team together.
'The school has decided that fifty pounds is too much,' he told them. 'The competition was a wonderful
idea, of course, but the riding's too expensive. There are the swimming lessons as well, and we haven't
even started the shooting yet. No, it's all too difficult. The competition's dead.'



4

The new team

Bean and Gary were pleased, Jazz did not say anything, and Hoomey was very happy - until Nutty told
him that the horses would have to go back to the knackers.
Nutty was wildly angry. 'Isn't that just like adults?' she said. 'They tell you to do things, they get all
excited, and then suddenly say it's all too difficult.'
But Hoomey was thinking about Bones. He was no longer frightened of his large, hungry horse and he
knew that Bones was really a very friendly animal. It was a nice feeling when Bones pushed him gently
with his nose, asking for the sugar in Hoomey's pocket. Hoomey realized, very strongly, that he did not
want Bones to become dog food.
'They can't kill poor old Bones!' he cried. 'And what about Nails? What will he say about Lucky Lady
Firelight? He sleeps in her stable every night now.'
Nutty looked at Hoomey. 'Now, there's an idea,' she said softly. 'Nails . . . He could be in the team! He's
going to be a good rider, and he's an excellent swimmer - he can teach the rest of us! And I'll be in the
team too. Never mind that rubbish about not having girls. I can ride better than anyone at Greycoats.'
She turned to Hoomey, her eyes bright with excitement. 'Well you go on with the competition, if that
will save Bones?' she asked.
Hoomey thought about it. 'Yes,' he said slowly. 'Yes, I will.'
Nutty went to find Nails and explained her idea to him. You had to be careful with Nails. He could get
very angry for no reason. It was hard to like him.
Nails looked at Nutty coldly. 'They won't want me in their team,' he said.
'It's not their team any more. It's us, our team. If we want to do the competition, they can't stop us. And
we can beat Greycoats - I know we can.'
She waited hopefully, but Nails said nothing.
'Your brother Gary and Bean aren't interested,' Nutty said, 'but Jazz will go on, I think. And Hoomey.
And it's the only way to save the horses.'
'OK,' Nails said at last. 'I'll do it.' He did not look at Nutty, and walked away, his hands in his pockets.
Jazz agreed to the plan as well, but said the riding was too difficult for him. Nutty began to worry, and
decided to go and see what Uncle Bean thought.
'Well, I think that riding teacher was a bit hard on your horses,' he said. 'After all, you only want to ride
across country for a mile or two. You need that niece of hers - Biddy Bedwelty. She'd teach you all in
a week!'
'But she's a famous competition rider! She wouldn't teach us!' replied Nutty. 'And her lessons would
cost an awful lot.'
'Well, offer her Whizzo instead of money,' said Uncle Bean. 'You can ride Midnight, so you don't need
a fourth horse.'
To their surprise, Biddy agreed to help them. Not for Whizzo, but because she liked doing things that
seemed impossible.
'You needn't pay me if you won,' Biddy said.
'And if we lose?' asked Nutty.
'Then you have to pay me for six months' work,' Biddy replied, and she agreed to come three times a
week for two hours each time.
Nutty knew that Biddy's lessons cost ten pounds an hour - but there was no other way.
Uncle Bean agreed to pay for the horses' shoes and food. 'But I want my money back if you lose, like
Biddy,' he said to Nutty.
'Add it to the bill,' Nutty said crossly. 'It's only one thousand four hundred and forty pounds. Who's
worrying about a few hundred more?'
Uncle Bean shouted with laughter. 'With a bill like that, I guess the four of you will work harder than
you've ever done in your lives!'
And they did. They began to work at their running. They ran to and from school, and down to the old
factory where the horses were every morning and evening. They had riding lessons with Biddy three
times a week, and went swimming as often as they could.
Swimming lessons with Nails were not easy. His way of teaching was very frightening. His idea was
that if you put someone who can't swim into deep water, he'll have to swim to stay alive. At their first
lesson Hoomey could only swim about three metres in shallow water.
'Get in,' Nails said to Hoomey.
'But it's the deep end.'
'You just get in here and swim to where you can stand up.'
Hoomey turned to run. Nails caught him, fastened his thin arms round the shaking body and jumped
in with him. Nutty was watching and tried not to scream as the water closed over Hoomey.
But Hoomey came up again with Nails beside him.
'Swim!' Nails shouted in his ear. 'Or you'll die.'
Hoomey moved his arms about wildly. Nails turned on his back and slid in the water in front of
Hoomey, watching him and pushing his big toe under Hoomey's chin.
'Come on, you stupid fool, or I'll hit you.'
Hoomey tried. He didn't want to die. He swam, keeping up with Nail's feet. Every time he started to go
down, Nails pulled him up with his toe. Then just when Hoomey thought he really was going to die,
Nail's foot pulled him up out of the water and, with a quick push, stood him up. The water was half-way
up his body. He looked round and saw that he was three-quarters of the way down the pool!
'Not bad,' said Nails carelessly.
And he left Hoomey looking down in surprise at how far he had swum, and went over to Jazz and Bean.
But the lesson was Jazz was not so successful. Nails decided to teach Jazz how to turn. He was standing
on the side of the pool and as Jazz swam up to him, Nails put his foot on the back of Jazz's head and
stepped in, taking Jazz's head with him and making Jazz turn over beautifully. But Jazz did not seem
to think that this was a very good idea and he hit out at Nails under the water. He caught Nails across
the face with a ring he wore. Water and blood flew about wildly everywhere, and made Nutty think of
films about man-eating fish. She heard the sound of wet feet running along the side of the pool as
everyone came to watch. But Nutty turned away. She did not want to see. She heard shouts, bad
language, and more shouts.
Then the lifeguard saw what was happening, and jumped into the water. Suddenly, two bodies flew
through the air and came to rest on the side of the pool, helped there by the lifeguard's large hand.
'And don't come back for a week, Nicholson!' he shouted after Nails.
Nails turned his bloody, angry face on Nutty.
'Is that what you want,' then?' he cried.
'Shut up, Nails. You frightened him. Don't get angry. You're a great teacher, but go easy on them. Get
changed and I'll buy you a coke.'
She waited for the boys, bought them something to eat and calmed them down. By then it was raining
heavily and Nutty still had to take Midnight out for his ride. She ran to catch her bus, tired of having
to do everything for the others.
Lessons with Biddy were also hard work. It didn't matter if it was raining or snowing; they still had the
lesson. Nails could make Firelight do anything for him now. They had a very special feeling for each
other, and when Biddy wanted Nails to change horses, he refused.
Nutty's sister Gloria was still seeing Sebastian Smith, and Nutty was pleased about this. She wanted a
spy in the Greycoats team. One evening Gloria told Seb all about the new team, while she and Seb were
sitting in the back seats in the cinema. Seb sat up suddenly and looked at Gloria in surprise.
'What?' he said. 'Nutty's in the team? And that terrible Nails? He can swim like a fish! And Colin, in
our team, isn't a good swimmer at all.'
'And Biddy Bedwelty is teaching them riding.'
'I don't like this,' Seb said. he sounded very unhappy. 'I don't like it at all. We never thought that
Hawkwood would beat us! But your sister Nutty is really dangerous when she gets an idea in her head.
I think our team is going to have to do some serious hard work.'


5

The secret swimming

The Hawkwood team worked hard all through the winter months. Nutty found the swimming difficult,
but she kept trying and Nails helped her. He was growing more friendly now, and with his help Nutty
began to get better quickly. 'If I can ride,' he said, 'you can swim!'
It was true that Nails could ride well now, but he still refused to change horses. 'It's Firelight I'm riding
in the competition,' he said. 'So why change?'
The shooting was a problem. They had no guns and the lessons were very expensive. Nutty didn't know
what they were going to do about it, but the competition wasn't until August, and they were getting
better at other things. Jazz and Hoomey had stopped taking the bus to school and ran there every day.
It was Nutty herself who found the running difficult.
So winter passed and spring came. More people started coming to the swimming pool and this meant
that it was always crowded. It was all right for Seb Smith and his team. The Smiths had a pool in their
garden, so the Greycoats team could swim there. Nutty saw their pool one night when she was riding
near the Smiths' house. It was down at the end of the garden, and there were trees between the pool and
the house. Nutty realized that they could swim there and no one could see them from the house!
When she arrived home, she told Gloria about it.
'Well,' Gloria said, 'Friday's your night. Mr and Mrs Smith go out and Seb takes me to a film. The place
is empty by seven.'
So, every Friday night, Nutty's team used the Smiths' pool. The weather was cold to begin with, and the
first time that Hoomey jumped into the water, he came up with a scream. 'It's like ice!' he cried, as he
tried to get out. But Nails caught him and held him round the neck. 'Get swimming!' he shouted.
But the days grew warmer, and one evening Nutty was sitting beside the pool with Nails, watching Jazz
and Hoomey swimming. She was feeling pleased. Jazz was a born swimmer, she decided. She stood
up and went to get a sweet from the pocket of her coat, which was over by the trees. Suddenly she heard
voices on the other side of the trees. She went cold with fear.
'Come and have a look at our pool,' said the voice. 'I thought Seb had gone out, but he seems to be
there.'
Nutty dropped her coat and ran back to Nails.
'Mrs Smith!' she said. 'She's coming! Get them out!'
Hoomey was just finishing. Nutty flew round the pool, got down and screamed at him, 'Hoomey! Get
out!'
He looked up with his mouth open, drank half the pool and went under the water. Nutty caught him by
a handful of skin and pulled him over to the side. 'The Smiths are here!' she cried. 'Quick!'
He jumped up towards her and she pulled him out. He ran as fast as his legs would carry him. But Jazz
was still going up and down in the water, and did not hear Nail's cries to get out. Mrs Smith appeared
with another lady at her side, smiling.
'Hello, my dears!' she said.
They ran, leaving Jazz behind. The next minute they disappeared through a hole in the hedge. Nutty was
the last to go, and she saw the smiling lady look down into the pool and heard her say, 'Why, how
brown he is! Have you been to Spain for the holidays?'
They flew down the street, but came to a stop when an old man, who was taking his dog for its evening
walk, gave them a very strange look.
'What shall we do?' cried Nutty. 'We've left all our clothes there!'
They stood there with water running from them, not knowing what to do. Three older boys were coming
along the street towards them, and a group of children on bicycles started riding round and round them.
'Let's get home,' Nails said angrily.
'We can't leave Jazz!'
Nutty stopped and looked back, and just then Jazz appeared through the hole in the hedge. Usually, of
course, Jazz's long hair was hidden under his turban. Sikhs never cut their hair, and although Jazz
wanted to cut his, his parents wouldn't let him. Now, Jazz's swimming hat had fallen off, and he looked
really wild with his long wet hair falling half-way down his body and covering his face. He came flying
towards them, and cries of 'Stop! Stop!' came from the garden. Dogs in other gardens began to bark
loudly. 'Why didn't you tell me,' said Jazz unhappily.
A bus was coming slowly along the road. By now the boys had started to run towards them, and the
children on bicycles, still going round and round them, were shouting and laughing.
'Quick! Let's get out of here!' Nutty cried.
She raced along the road towards the bus stop with her arm up to stop the bus. The others ran with her.
The shouting behind them grew wilder, and Nutty saw the bus driver's surprised face as the bus
screamed to a stop. It was a double-decker bus, and Nutty and the others got on quickly through the
back doors and ran upstairs.
'We haven't bought tickets!' Hoomey said in a quiet, frightened voice.
'Let's just hope that no ticket inspector gets on,' Nutty answered.
The bus was full and everybody was looking at them. Nutty slid down in her seat, but, without clothes,
there was nothing to hide her. Jazz shook his hair, which fell down over his face, and he sat there
looking like some strange wild animal.
But a ticket inspector did get on at the next stop. He came up to Jazz's seat. 'Tickets, please!' he said.
Jazz began to speak very quickly in Punjabi, the language his parents used at home.
Nutty looked out of the window, hoping for more time, but the inspector came to her next.
'I've lost my handbag,' Nutty said, and she got down on the floor, looking for it.
'You never had a handbag, Madam,' the inspector said, not amused.
Hoomey was also pretending to look for his ticket under his seat, and the inspector went up to Nails
next. 'Tickets, please,' he shouted. Nails did not answer. The inspector tried again, but Nails still didn't
move.
'He can't hear,' Nutty explained. 'He's deaf.'
The inspector stopped the bus. 'Come on,' he said. 'Get off - the four of you. This is the sea front and
that's what you must be looking for.'
'But it's cold out there!'
'Then wear some clothes next time.'
There was a cold wind down by the sea, and they all lived on the other side of town. nail's house was
the nearest, so they decided to go there and get some clothes.
The run through the centre of town was something that they would never forget. The crowds shouted
with laughter when this saw this strange group, dressed only in swimming things, and Jazz with his long
black hair covering his face. But they finally reached the little house where Nails lived. Some minutes
later, three very strange figures left, wearing borrowed clothes which did not fit and which were years
out of date.
When Nutty arrived home, she had to tell her parents what had happened. They were very angry.
'Right,' said her father. 'You can just get changed. We're going round to the Smiths' and you can tell
them you're sorry about all this!'
It was all right for the others, thought Nutty miserably. They were in the factory with the horses while
she, the team captain, was left with all the problems.
Her father drove her up to the rich part of town to the Smiths' house. When they arrived, Nutty was
sorry to see that the lights were on. The Smiths were in - and there was no escape!
Mrs Smith opened the door. 'Well?' she said icily.
'My daughter has come to say she's sorry,' Nutty's father explained.
'Yes. Well. Come in and talk to my husband.'
Nutty did not want to go in. She hated this house. Everything showed that the Smiths had lots of money,
very different from Nail's poor little house. But Seb's father seemed more friendly than angry, and Nutty
said that she was sorry for using their pool secretly.
'That's all right,' said Mr Smith, 'but ask first next time.'
Then, to Nutty's surprise, he offered them a drink. He wanted to know why she and her friends were
using the pool, and Nutty told him all about the competition.
'Do you mean you're doing all this yourselves, with no help? Do your teachers know?'
Nutty didn't know and she didn't really care.
But Mr Smith laughed. 'I think that's wonderful, Mr McTavish,' he said to Nutty's father. 'We give
Sebastian too much,' he want on. 'I've had to work for what I've got, and your Deirdre's the same. She's
a worker, and she can use our pool when she wants to.' Then he asked Nutty about the shooting, and
when he heard that they had no money for lessons, he said, 'Well, I'll see what I can do for you. I'll have
a word with a policeman friend of mine.' He laughed again. 'It'll be good for Seb and his friends to work
a bit harder.'
And for a minute Nutty almost felt sorry for Seb.



6

Riding and shooting

Mr Smith's police friend, Mr Potter, called at Hawkwood and asked for miss Deirdre McTavish, the
captain of the Hawkwood tetrathlon team. And so, to his great surprise, Sam Sylvester learned that there
was still a Hawkwood team. Mr Potter had brought guns and targets with him, and was ready to start
the first lesson. Everybody in the school wanted to try the shooting when they saw the guns. 'Get lost!'
cried Nutty. 'None of you wanted to do the other things, so get lost before I shoot you.'
The first lesson went well and Mr Potter agreed to come down two or three times a week to teach them.
They fixed two nights when they weren't swimming, and that left two nights for riding lessons, and
Sunday off. Running was all the time, and so was taking out the horses. After all this hard work, Nutty
was now much thinner, and Hoomey's thin arms and legs were really strong. They all looked strong and
healthy, and Jazz most of all. But, although Jazz was so good at running and swimming, he was still
worried about his riding.
'We're all better at some things than others,' Nutty said to him. In fact, she thought that she was probably
the worst of all of them at most things. True, she was good at riding, but that was only a quarter of the
competition.
The competition would be at Swallow Hall, a big country house with its own lake and swimming pool.
First there was the shooting, then the four-minute swim, the two-mile run, and the riding. In each part,
only the best three scores in the team were counted. But Nutty suddenly realized that they had never
tried all four parts of the competition on the same day.
They continued to work hard, and in the summer Uncle Bean found some farms where they could try
some real cross-country riding. Hoomey's horse Bones loved it. He seemed to remember his past as a
racehorse, and went over the jumps like an express train, nearly frightening Hoomey to death.
'You were wonderful, Hoomey,' the others told him afterwards. Hoomey's face went bright red, and he
forgot that he was afraid.
Poor Jazz had problems. When Spot came to a jump, he stopped - but Jazz went on, over his head. Then
Nutty remembered something. 'Spot was in a circus. Perhaps he'll do it to music.'
So they brought some music and played it, and Spot stood up on his back legs and Jazz fell off again!
But, in the end, Spot jumped better to music.
Nails had no problems with Firelight. She did anything that he wanted, and when he was in the factory
with her on a warm summer evening, he was really happy. He liked being with her and he was a much
nicer person. But he could not understand why he felt this way about an animal.
Firelight usually lay down and slept next to Nails, but one night she did not do this. Instead, she moved
around her box all the time. Nails began to think that she was ill. He was very worried and thought of
going to ask Nutty what to do about it, but then Firelight grew quieter and Nails fell asleep.
He woke suddenly. Something was wrong. Firelight was ill again. 'Oh, please don't die!' he cried
silently. Then, suddenly Nails understood what was happening. Firelight was having a baby! When
Nails saw the foal's little face appear, he laughed and cried at the same time. 'You lovely baby!' he said
softly. This was the most exciting thing that had ever happened to him. He had to go and tell Nutty.
Nutty's father was a little surprised to see Nails standing outside his door with a great big smile on his
face at a quarter to five in the morning! A sleepy Nutty appeared and Nails told her his wonderful news.
To his surprise, Nutty was not as happy about the foal as he was. She knew that Nails could not ride
Firelight in the competition now!
And when Nails learnt that Firelight and her foal would have to leave the factory because they needed
grass, he too was unhappy. Then Uncle Bean remembered that he had the use of a field not far away.
Firelight and her foal could go there. Nails discovered that there was a shed there too, where he could
sleep, and he felt better about it. But he had lost interest in the competition, and didn't care that he had
no horse to ride.
'But you have to care,' Biddy told him, almost angrily. 'It isn't just for you. You're part of a team.
Everyone's worked really hard, so you have to ride for them.'
Biddy, in her own way, was as hard a person as Nails. The next night she came on her motor-bike to
fetch him, took him to her place and began to teach him to ride Switchback, one of her horses. It was
a young horse, big, fast - and very frightening. But nobody argued with Biddy, so Nails hid his fear and
rode Switchback over the jumps. It felt like flying, and Nails began to realize that he had never enjoyed
anything in his life as much as this. He rode every evening and spent all his free time with Firelight and
her foal, Bonfire.
There were now only three weeks to the competition. Gloria told Nutty that Seb and his team had
started to work hard too.
'They're really worried,' Gloria went on. 'They'd hate to lose to the Hawkwood team, and they're going
to cheat if they think you're winning. Seb told me.'
Nutty was very angry. 'That's terrible!' she said.
'Well, if they cheat, why don't you cheat too?'
'I don't know how,' said Nutty. 'But you find out their plans. I'll kill you if you don't tell me what's going
on!'



7

The competition day arrives

At last the big day came. Nutty, Hoomey, and Jazz met early at the factory and began to get the horses
ready. Nails was late. Perhaps he was still asleep in his field with Firelight, Nutty thought crossly.
Jazz's father was driving them to Swallow Hall, Mr Potter was meeting them there with the guns, and
Uncle Bean and Biddy would arrive at lunchtime with the horses. When they were ready to go, Nails
had still not arrived. Nutty began to feel sick with worry. In the end, they left without him.
'What'll we do if Nails doesn't come?' Hoomey asked.
'We'll just have to be twice as good. Right?' Nutty said bravely. 'We can do it.'
Hoomey and Jazz were silent. They all knew that Nails was their best swimmer and their best runner.
Without him, they would probably fail.
Jazz had never been anywhere as grand as Swallow Hall before, and he felt that everyone was looking
at his dark skin and his turban. But Nutty didn't seem to care how grand it was, although she found she
was the only girl in the competition.
'It's for boys, I told you,' said Seb. He appeared out of the crowd, looking very cool. 'They don't usually
let girls compete. And you haven't got a chance!'
'I know what I'm doing. Just go away, Seb dear,' Nutty replied. She turned to the others. 'Let's walk
round the cross-country course,' she said. She knew she wouldn't be strong enough to do it after the
swim.
Hoomey walked round smiling at all the jumps like old friends. 'Are you all right, Hoomey?' Nutty
asked him, worried. But Hoomey just went on smiling.
Jazz looked miserable. 'I hate the riding,' he said.
'Spot can do it,' replied Nutty, 'if you make him. And you must. You and Nails are our best scorers in
the other things.'
God, where was Nails?
He still wasn't there when they got back for the shooting. 'He can shoot later,' the official said.
Seb and the others were shooting and their score was not bad. Then it was Hawkwood's turn.
Nutty didn't do well at first, but then she pretended it was Seb's face on the target. She hit his nose, his
ears and his mouth, and got a much better score. Jazz did well too, but Hoomey's score was the worst.
He hit Jazz's target twice!
'You know I'm no good, Nutty,' he said.
'Come on,' said Nutty. 'The swimming!' There was nothing you could do with Hoomey, except kill him!
They got changed ready for the swimming and came back to watch Seb's team. Then Hoomey realized
that he'd left his goggles in the changing-room and went to get them. When he came back, Colin, one
of the Greycoats team, was swimming. He was very good indeed, and Nutty stared. 'Seb said that Colin
was their worst swimmer.'
'But that can't be Colin,' said Hoomey. 'I've just seen Colin in the changing-room.'
So that was why Colin was swimming so well! Everyone looked the same in goggles, and it wasn't
Colin at all. They'd cheated! None of the officials noticed anything, and when they had finished the
swimming, the Greycoats team all disappeared fast. Nutty was wild with anger.
Then it was Hawkwood's turn to swim. Four minutes of hard swimming felt like a long, slow death to
Nutty, but she kept going, up and down, up and down, and when it was over, they had to pull her out
of the water. When at last she could see again, Jazz was swimming beautifully - but there was still no
Nails.
Nutty went to get dressed and when she came out to meet the others, she looked over towards the
swimming pool. And at that moment she saw a boy run in, and start talking to the swimming officials.
Nutty stared. Then she shouted to the others, 'Look! There he is! Now we've got a chance of winning!'
Nails had come at last!



8

Winners and losers

Nails had already done his shooting, and now he swam wonderfully, moving fast and easily up and
down the pool. It was a ten-metre pool, and Nails did thirty-four lengths in four minutes. Nutty wanted
to laugh out loud with happiness.
'Not bad,' she said, when Nails had finished. 'But where have you been all this time?'
Nails looked angry. 'I was sleeping in the shed in Firelight's field last night, and the police came and
got me. They asked me where I lived and I wouldn't tell them, so they locked me up in the police station
all night. I had to argue my way out this morning. Biddy came to fetch me, because I told the police she
was my mother. Biddy was a bit angry about that.'
Nutty wondered what would happen to Nails after today. Sleeping out in fields, no real home to go to,
nothing to look forward to. But there was no time to worry about that now. There was still the running
and the riding to do.
Greycoats went first in the running, and Nutty watched them angrily. 'We're well behind after that
cheating,' she said. 'And just look at them now!'
Greycoats were running well. We've just got to keep going,' Nutty said.
And they did. But it nearly killed Nutty. Hoomey, running in front of her, grew smaller and smaller, and
Nutty realized that she was probably the worst of them all. But she finished, fell to the ground and lay
there with her eyes closed. When she opened them again, Biddy was there. At last! Nutty was free!
Biddy would tell them all what to do now.
'You've all got to ride like crazy if you're going to beat those Greycoat boys,' Biddy said.
By now the parents had all arrived and were enjoying their day out. Uncle Bean had brought the horses,
and Hoomey was looking at Bones with dreamy eyes. He was in another world again. Nails and Jazz
looked worried. Switchback, Nail's horse, looked very big and strong and would not be easy for him
to ride.
When Nutty went to look at the scores, she saw that her team had fallen well behind Greycoats now.
They all needed clear rounds in the riding to have any chance of winning at all. Hoomey rode past on
Bones, and Nutty suddenly realized that Bones was no longer the thin, miserable horse who had come
to them. His eyes shone and he looked more like a three-year-old, ready to race and to win. Little
Hoomey would never be able to stop him, Nutty thought worriedly.
Greycoats began their riding, and Nutty was very pleased indeed when Seb fell into the first ditch. The
rest of the Greycoats team looked worried and Nutty smiled happily. Then she saw Gloria and rode up
to her. 'They cheated, didn't they?' Nutty said angrily, and Gloria looked uncomfortable.
All four Greycoats riders did badly. 'You've really got to go well,' Nutty told her team. 'We could beat
them!' But when they heard this, the others looked more worried than ever.
The Greycoats team were now having some kind of discussion, and Gloria was with them. But it was
time for Nutty to go. She was riding first, then Hoomey and then Nails and Jazz. Nutty was afraid that
Jazz would not get round. Spot could do it with a strong rider, but Jazz wasn't strong enough, and Nutty
was worried.
The starter looked at his watch. 'Go!' he called, and Nutty had a wonderful feeling of excitement. This
was what she was good at, and Midnight flew over the ground. The course seemed easy to Nutty as they
went over the jumps with no trouble at all, across the next field, over the big ditch and up into the
woods. Away below her on the left, she could see the main road with the cars shining in the sun. But
her way was to the right and down the hill. There she had to stop, get off her horse and open a gate,
while an official timed her. The official was the mother of one of the Greycoats team and her car was
parked near the gate. But Nutty did well, and Midnight was off again, over the jumps and through the
finish, fast and clear.
Hoomey was waiting to go, with his eyes shining as he looked at his wonderful Bones. 'Good luck!'
Nutty called - and Hoomey was away. Bones went off like an express train, and there was no way he
was going to stop before he heard the crowd shouting for him at the finish.
Just then Gloria hurried up to Nutty. 'They're going to cheat again,' she said. 'They've got a recording
of "God Save the Queen". They've hidden it in the official's car, and when Spot has to stop at the gate,
they're going to play it, and . . .'
'Spot will lie down.' Nutty finished. 'Don't worry,' she said to Jazz. 'You're riding last, so if Hoomey and
Nails go clear, then we're all right.'
'Where is Hoomey?' Nails said, worried. 'He should be out of the woods by now. He was going very
fast.'
Nutty looked towards the top of the hill. There was no Hoomey! But there was something happening
- people were running about wildly and one of the officials had his red flag up - red for blood, which
meant they needed an ambulance. But there were a lot of other flags too, and then cars starting up, one
coming down the hill and others going up to meet it. People were shouting and looking serious.
Hoomey was in trouble, Nutty realized, and she knew that both Nails and Jazz had to get clear rounds
now. But she could also see, from the look of fear on Jazz's face, that he couldn't do it.
But she knew she could. 'Colin cheated,' she said, 'and so will we! I'll ride Spot!'
The others stared at her with open mouths. 'But you're the wrong colour!' said Nails.
'Gloria's got something that she uses to make her look brown. I'll put that on my face and I'll wear Jazz's
turban. Our riding clothes are all the same, and if I keep moving fast, no one will ever know!'
Nails went off to start his riding, and the others hurried into the back of Uncle Bean's truck. A few
minutes later Nutty had become Jazz.
'I hope I don't really look like that!' said Jazz. 'You hide here until I get back,' said Nutty. 'And let's hope
that Nails does a clear round!'
Nutty ran out and got onto Spot. She looked up the hill and saw Nails going well on Switchback, but
there was still no Hoomey. He must be still alive, but where was he?
Then the starter called 'Go!', and Nutty was away. Spot, surprised, was galloping before he had time to
think. Nutty hurried him on, and he found it easier to jump than to refuse. They reached the wood
safely, and from the top of the hill Nutty saw Nails going fast towards the finish. They could still win.
As Nutty came out of the wood, she saw the ambulances and cars and a crowd of people looking down
the hill. She had no time to see what was happening, and turned Spot towards the next jump. Then
Bones and Hoomey suddenly appeared, coming up the hill from the main road, and galloping very fast
towards the jump in front of her. Bones flew over the jump, clearing it by about two metres, and
Hoomey went up in the air and came down again, still on Bones's back. Now they were racing towards
the gate, and Nutty, not far behind, could see that Bones wasn't going to stop until he won the race.
The official was standing near the gate, but when she saw Bones and Hoomey racing towards her, she
ran back to her car. Her son, who was sitting in the car, ready to play 'God Save the Queen' for Spot,
was frightened to death. He forgot how important it was to start the music, and hid under the seat! Nutty
got off Spot, went through the gate, and was away before the official and her son had climbed out of
their car. Hoomey had already disappeared.
Nutty rode on, a wild hope growing inside her. But she had forgotten that Jazz's parents were there with
Biddy and the other parents. They would know that she wasn't Jazz! But she couldn't stop to explain,
and rode on past them. She could feel Biddy's glassy stare and saw the mouths of the others fall open,
but she kept going and finished with a clear round. She rode straight to the truck where the others were.
Inside the truck, Nutty heard that Nails had had a clear round too. 'We've done it!' she shouted. 'We've
beaten them!'
Jazz, putting on his turban again, was laughing. 'Have you heard? Hoomey rode two miles down the
main road.'
'Not two miles!' said Hoomey.
'And because it was a main road, he had to go down to the roundabout before he could come back.'
'What! Hoomey, you didn't!'
'Bones jumped over on to the road. I couldn't stop him.' Hoomey was white and shining when he spoke.
'And you went round the roundabout?'
Hoomey looked a bit uncomfortable. 'I thought it was the right thing to do, but the traffic was a bit
cross. But Nutty, Bones was wonderful!'
By now, Nutty had cleaned her face and she felt wonderful too. 'We won!' she cried. 'We won!'
'We cheated,' Nails said.
'So did they. It's fair, if you all cheat.'
Nutty looked at Nails. He was smiling, actually smiling. It had been a great day for all of them, Nutty
decided. Then she saw everybody walking towards them. There were all the parents, Biddy, the
Greycoats teacher and Sam Sylvester - and Seb and his team.
'You cheated!' Seb called out to Nutty.
'Oh yes?' Nutty said. 'Who cheated?'
'You rode twice.'
'And Colin didn't swim.'
'You can't be sure about that. Nobody will believe you.'
'Well, you can't be sure that I rode twice.'
'Everybody could see it was you. It's the way you ride. We'll tell the competition officials.'
'And we'll tell them about Colin not swimming. And we'll get someone to look at "God Save the Queen"
in Antony's mum's car by the gate.'
'Have you all gone crazy?' Biddy asked sweetly.
The adults were all staring at the two teams, some amused, some not understanding. The Greycoats
teacher looked cross. 'If there's been some cheating, then there are no real winners or losers,' he said,
'and you'll all have to do the competition again next year.'
'That's just what I think,' said Biddy.
The eight competitors looked at each other and fell silent in horror. Nutty couldn't believe it. The pain
of all that running and swimming when you were half-dead . . .
But the adults loved the idea. They had had a nice day out, and thought that tetrathlon sports were very
good for young people. They all began to make plans. Sam Sylvester said that the school would help
next time, and Biddy told Nutty to forget about the money for the riding lessons.
The talking and laughing went on for some time as the adults discussed the day. 'And did you see old
Bones,' said Uncle Bean, 'galloping down the main road? Even the police car couldn't catch him! What
a horse!'
And that was how it all ended. No winners, no losers. Except that Jazz was invited by the Greycoats
teacher to join a competition swimming team. And Jazz was very pleased about that because he really
liked swimming. And Biddy offered Nails a job riding her horses, a room to sleep in, and a home for
Firelight and her foal. Nails didn't say much but he smiled. And Nutty knew that she had been a good
captain. Perhaps one day she would be the captain of an Olympic riding team. And Hoomey - well,
Hoomey knew what he wanted in life now. Who said he had no ambition? The dreamy look was back
in his eyes. He could be a famous rider, flying over the jumps on his horse like a bird of freedom . . .
Perhaps tomorrow everything would seem different. But today . . . today was all right.